RomanPunks is a retrofuturistic, cyberpunk derivative world-building project inspired by fine art, history and the cryptopunk movement.
A total of 1,000 RomanPunk characters have been frozen in time and minted as Non Fungible Tokens (NFTs) on the Ethereum, WAX, Polygon and Algorand blockchains.
RomanPunk characters are comprised of commoners and famous individuals based on Roman history, art history and pop culture.
The basis for RomanPunk lore and backstories is exhaustively researched by history/sci-fi buff and co-founder, Punktavian.
All images are drawn by hand by woman artist and co-founder, Cleopunktra, without the aid of AI or generative tools.
RomanPunks came into existence through early minting on OpenSea, promoting on Twitter and building a Discord community through giveaways and engagement. The idea of a cyberpunk-derivative ‘RomanPunk’ theme was in our heads for years, but it was the success of the Cryptopunks that became the catalyst for project conception and launch.
After a hard working first 60 days spent networking and attracting new collectors to RomanPunks, our community had begun to flourish and sales increased. We began to offer our collectors an opportunity to battle their NFTs in a tournament bracket powered by dice rolls.
Encouraged by the tight knit community and the carbon-neutral blockchain with lightning fast and low cost transactions, we launched 'romanpunksio' collection on WAX Blockchain as the first step to expand the backstories of our RomanPunk characters and the baseline for future development of a card game.
RomanPunks integrated with Chainlink Labs to utilize VRF (Verified Randomness Function) to host a giveaway raffle for our holders. We developed a smart contract on Ethereum which guarantees true random number selection on chain and can be used for a wide range of functions that require random selection.
After much anticipation in the community, we released our first WAX NFT card 'pack' through the Neftyblocks platform, which sold out in less than a week.
We launched our Twitch channel and begun building an audience by offering numerous giveaways of WAX NFTs from our collection, as well as giving participants a chance to win RomanPunk ETH NFT airdrops for taking top spot at the end of the 'season'.
As firm believers in a metaverse future and land owners in The Sandbox, we undertook to build the RomanPunk Colosseum on 1x1 land and entered our experience "Gladiator Bloodsport" into a GameJam contest. We will continue to build the Colosseum into a PVP arena and social hub once The Sandbox offers creators the ability to do so.
Thanks to the user friendly tools offered by NeftyBlocks, we launched a comprehensive blending system on WAX, allowing our collectors to blend the common NFTs they earn in our Discord RPG up into Legendary famous NFTs through the use of blending 'coins' that can also be earned on the Discord as reward for helping to promote the RomanPunks project.
We launched the VX collection on Polygon. Each owner of an ETH NFT gets their voxel equivalent airdropped to them, and these NFTs can be redeemed for official NFTs on The Sandbox Marketplace once available.
All 1,000 original, unique 1:1 RomanPunk characters hand drawn by Cleopunktra and minted on OpenSea.
The RomanPunk WAX NFT Trading Card Fighter Pack Series II consists of 3 NFTs randomly selected from over 236 characters.
Upcoming plans for RomanPunks include:
Below is a comprehensive and searchable directory of all 1,000 RomanPunk Characters.
Born 397 AD in Pompaelo and raised by bullfighters, Becky was kidnapped and pressed into service by Vandal invaders. While investigating the Temple of Alcántara, she was transported to an alternate dimension in a mid-21st century AD postapocalyptic wasteland.
Born 2172 AD in Iuvavum, Elsa is an eccentric toy-maker known for her Pet Gremlins, quirky animatronic creatures that have taken the universe by storm. She runs a toy boutique in the souk of Neo-Carthage, where her creations mock the Roman elite with satirical designs that poke fun at emperors, governors, and high-ranking officials. Each gremlin is a playful, biting critique wrapped in bright colors and mischievous grins, offering customers a chance to own a piece of subversive art disguised as a toy.
Born 2161 AD in Tingis, Sabria was sold into servitude to a Roman senator obsessed with ancient Numidian texts. He gave her a gold monocle to read for him—she used it to learn for herself. In Neo-Carthage, she moves through elite circles unnoticed, feeding intelligence to the resistance. At a cursed relic auction, she drew in Velia Vulfric—the flippant socialite with a taste for the macabre—whose curiosity she gradually turned into complicity, and perhaps something more…
Born in 261 AD in Olisipo, Dobiteina and her husband Arco are time slaves who toiled as resurrection gladiators in a distant time and place. After living thousands of lifetimes, they escaped and returned to the 3rd century AD where they triumphed with advanced tactics and equipment in the colosseum.
Born in 113 BC in Philippopolis, Seuthes fought with Spartacus in the Third Servile War, lost and was crucified by the Romans. His dying body was abducted off the cross by aliens, who forced him to fight as a cybergladiator for eternity.
Born 88 AD in Frisia, Tilly witnessed the death of her parents by the orders of Trajan. With the help of a sympathetic centurion, she crossed dimensions learning the art of revenge.
Born 178 AD in Skara Brae, Fergus is a landed equestrian from a tranquil island paradise. He sprang into action upon learning of Severus and Caracalla’s invasion of Caledonia. Utilizing his extensive network of merchants, spies, and dimension hoppers, Fergus tainted a rack of lamb with a lethal COVID-XIX variant acquired from the Han Empire. This dish was served to Emperor Severus, leading to his premature death and the subsequent halt of the invasion.
Born 121 BC in Jutland, Cindi was a defiant warrior captured and enslaved by Gaius Marius at the Battle of Vercellae. Refusing to submit to concubinage, she was dispatched to an atomic age alternate dimension where she toils as a scullery maid and comfortess in a high-altitude air cruise liner zeppelin.
Born 205 BC in Drepana, Siro was a shepherd who chased one of his flock into a temple on Mount Eryx and was sucked into an interdimensional portal to a distant time and place where he was pressed into the service of a galactic alien army.
Born 211 BC in Gades, Quique was enslaved as a gladiator for rebelling against the governor. His massive size & popularity influenced scouts from 28th century AD to press Quique into service at a futuristic cybercolosseum.
Born in 404 AD in a herd of nomads, Takuka was forced to marry at 11, murdered her husband at 13 and became a gladiator champion at 16. Now she travels across dimensions thirsting for blood and glory in the ring.
Born 1918 AD in an atompunk dimension in Scodra, Lavinia is a socialite who avoids the sun’s warmth outside her VR sanctuary on the Adriatic coast. From her retrofuturistic refuge, Lavinia spends days browsing the latest virtual couture and nights immersed in smoky, jazz-infused metaverse lounges. Heiress to a vast fortune amassed from Queen Teuta’s legendary pirate booty, she rarely entertains visitors but is quietly enamored with a Dacian vampire she met online. While their meeting IRL remains out of reach, Lavinia’s fascination with him only deepens, tempting her to blur the line between a curated digital life and the world outside her goggles.
Born 179 BC in Sidon, Tanith was a merchant’s wife who escaped Carthage during the destruction by Cato the Elder by sneaking through an open interdimensional portal at the Temple of Melqart. To her chagrin, Tanith landed in the 22nd century benighted kingdom of Neo-Carthage where she keeps a low profile as a shopping mall retail clerk.
Born 199 BC in Pella, Philip was enslaved by the Romans after losing the Third Macedonian War, then forced to fight as a gladiator for the entertainment of the masses. However, at the moment of glorious death in battle, his consciousness was ‘freejacked’ by time-traffickers to the 23rd century AD Britannia where he battles in a cloned body for the Interdimensional Cybergladiator League (ICL) on a squad sponsored by the Algorand Foundation, known as the AlgoSaxons.
Born 1113 AD in Cemenelum in an alternate steampunk dimension, Marina is a wreck diver and sailor on the Aqua Aeterna, the world’s first steam-powered submarine, whose mission is to find the lost city of Atlantis. Guided by the clues left by Plato and Seneca, the ship’s crew ventured into the Aztec Gulf, where Marina uncovered an interdimensional portal nestled on the ocean floor.
